Beijing seeks UN support in Vietnam maritime spat

BEIJING -- China has accused Vietnam of damaging peace and stability, state media said Tuesday, as it sought to drum up support at the United Nations in an ongoing territorial row.

In a position paper sent to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, China alleged that Vietnam rammed Chinese vessels more than 1,400 times near oil drilling operations in the South China Sea.

Hanoi and Beijing have been embroiled in a bitter war of words as the two sides have traded accusations concerning maritime confrontations near an oil rig that China moved into contested waters near the Paracel Islands.

Last week, Vietnam released dramatic footage showing a large Chinese ship chasing and ramming one of its fishing boats, which then sank near the rig.

Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said in the position paper that Vietnam had “illegally and forcefully disrupted the Chinese operation,” a Xinhua News Agency report published Tuesday said.

“Such actions also undermined the freedom and safety of navigation in these waters, and damaged peace and stability in the region,” Wang said, according to the report.

Wang also asked Ban to circulate the position paper, which includes an article from the Chinese Foreign Ministry detailing its allegations, among all U.N. member states, the report said.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Tuesday vented strong language toward Hanoi, saying that Beijing had to go to the U.N. to defend its position.

“On the one hand, they carried out more disruptions on the scene. On the other hand, they spread rumors in the international community, slinging mud and attacking China,” she told reporters at a regular briefing in the Chinese capital.

“Given this, we find it necessary to tell the international world what really happened so as to set the record straight.”

Tensions over the oil rig sparked violent anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam last month. Beijing says four Chinese citizens died in the unrest, while Vietnam says there were three Chinese fatalities.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbors, and has become increasingly assertive in staking those claims.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan have competing claims to parts of the sea.

China on Monday expressed displeasure after Vietnamese and Filipino troops played football and volleyball together on Sunday on a contested island in the Spratlys, with the foreign ministry denouncing the activity as “a farce.”

I am really shock when reading this article, why other newspaper offices do not believe in Vietnam? Never before Vietnam have any aggressive action to China, but it is opposite. China Kings had dominated Vietnam for more than 1000 years although Vietnamese people together to fight against China. Nowadays, when Vietnam is in peaceful, China comes again and violates sovereign right as robber. However, they continue to claims Vietnam for every action, "robbing while screaming for help. The author who writes this article also does not have objective opinion, just focus on China's fabrication.

I agree with you. I don't know where the writer of the article comes from. He/she maybe just wake up from a drunk sleep. This person haven't known anything around him or her, just something left from a Chinese party with lots of black money cover his/her eyes....Back to your bed, please. If you cannot make your pen straight, please quit your job.